Every woman has a sanctuary. The place she escapes to when life and husband and kids get to be too much. Which, lets get real, can be more than a couple times on some rather charming days. Mine isn’t the bedroom as you would imagine. Nope, I never get any peace and quiet in there. My husband and daughter can just open the door, walk right in, and destroy my moment of calm. That’s hardly a sanctuary – that’s more of a landmine situation which consists of me sitting on edge, just waiting for the door to open because inevitably, it will. That’s more anxiety provoking than the picture of serenity. To be absolutely candid (because is there really any other type), my actual sanctuary is the shower or the bathtub if I’m feeling particularly frazzled.

There’s literally no better place to escape to. The door is locked. You have some alone time to think or even better, not think at all. No one can disturb you for at least thirty minutes and even longer, if you say you’re washing your hair. The door is locked. There is seriously nothing better at helping me de-stress than some alone time in the shower. Did I mention the door is locked? My husband and daughter don’t even think to disturb me because obviously I’m not escaping them, I’m merely getting clean. That’s basically like a chore and not relaxing at all. Sometimes, I admit, this means I end up taking three showers a day but my mother always said cleanliness is next to godliness. And obviously, mothering can sometimes be dirty business.

Unfortunately, there has been a serious breach in my place of refuge. My husband thought it would be cute to one day pick open the lock while I was in the shower. I bet you can guess where this is going. My adorable but too clever for her own good daughter decided that out of all the talents she’d like to hone, this would be the one to really focus on. She is now a master at picking locks at two years of age. Sigh, I worry for the teenage years.

I’m literally lost now. I don’t know what to do. Anytime I try to pull one of my Houdini escapes by saying mommy has to go shower, she is guaranteed to be going at the lock about two minutes after I’ve entered the bathroom. Then the shower curtain opens to reveal her impish face looking up at me and smiling, quarter in hand. She couldn't be more proud of herself. So ridiculously cute. But. So. Not. Fair.

I’ve lost my sanctuary and it’s making me lose my sanity. There is absolutely no place I can go to in the house where my child cannot find me. So I’m sure you realize that there’s only one thing I can do. Pay back the favour to my darling husband. My daughter currently has no interest in his video games but just maybe and with the right encouragement, she might be cajoled into enjoying them. Especially on the days daddy really looks like he needs a playing partner – you know the days, the ones where you just want to unwind after a hard day’s work. After all, what’s more relaxing than a toddler, right? Who knows, my daughter might just enjoy video games with her daddy so much that she forgets about her mommy slipping away to the shower once in a while.